Graced (12 page)

None of it was making any sense to Laura. A price? How could one just
buy
beauty? And why was he tel ing her al this? Maybe it was al a fantasy he made up. Maybe he was insane. Yet, he was coherent enough in communicating. “What do you mean?” she asked final y. “Who are you?”

“I am but a humble servant,” Borrak said, bending one knee to her in a mock bow. Something about those words tugged at Laura’s memories, but she couldn’t put it together. “Now, my role is simply to obey the orders I am given.”

“Orders? Who’s orders?”

“Why, the
elders’
orders, of course,” he said tantalizingly. He motioned around himself. “Al this is their work, you must surely know. Wel , that’s not entirely true. Me and my brother had a large part to play in setting it al up.”

His brother? Did he mean… Serkhol? But then, who else could it be? And what was their connection to the elders? Neither of these creatures, these warped monstrosities of men, could possibly be related to the
Vassiz
. Could they?

“Who are you?” Laura asked again.

He looked at her. “I have told you who I am, girl. If you don’t have anything else you want to say, I can end this exercise right now. It’s not often our prisoners are given the opportunity to speak…” He looked at her expectantly, as if waiting on her to add something. That confirmed the suspicion in Laura’s mind. He
was
boasting to her. And he
wanted
her to appeal to his vanity. “No? Nothing more?” He started to turn away, slowly, al but
begging
her to ask him more.

“Wait!” Laura exclaimed. “There is something else I want to know.”

“Oh?” Right away, Borrak was ful y turned back to her. “And, pray tel , what is that?”

Laura swal owed. She had to be careful to formulate the question correctly, lest it push him away again. “Who…
were
you?” she asked final y. He seemed to enjoy reminiscing about his past, otherwise he wouldn’t have brought it up so often. To a
prisoner
, as he so eloquently put it, no less.

“Ah. A good question, that.” He put his hands behind his back, and slowly began to circle around Laura. “Who I was, was nothing more than a man. Born like any other, I set out in my youth to be a great adventurer. I wanted to see the world, to discover secrets and uncover long forgotten things. Little did I know how that desire would affect my life in the future.

“We were both in our early thirties when we made the discovery. On one of our expeditions, we were exploring the ruins of a long-gone civilization. There was a cave, and like any adventurers, we went in. That was where we found two ancient relics. They glowed, in a fluorescent blue, unlike anything either of us had seen before. And these relics
called
to us. They cal ed to me. It was like they wanted to be picked up, wanted to be used.

“We packed both the relics in our bags and set back. We thought either of them would be worth a fortune in gold, and our minds were set on sel ing both of them. However, on the way back, something happened that changed us forever. That night, when I slept, I was… transported… into another world. A world where anything at al was possible. I found my brother there, as wel . The world was magical, it was majestic… and yet it mirrored the one I knew so wel .” The dream realm? Was that what he was talking about? “You see, the relic led me to it, me and my brother. It was a great fantasy. We could do whatever we wanted there, be whoever we wanted to be. You cannot imagine the
power
we felt there!” It
was
the dream realm! But… why did he think she could not imagine it? Surely he knew she could access it?

“It was magnificent, and al encompassing. When we awoke that morning, al thought of sel ing the relics disappeared. The entrance to that world was a retreat from the harsher, much crueler one we lived in. Soon, we became seduced by its power, and every time we went there, we cal ed it more and more. What began as nightly visits slowly extended into days, and weeks. Our bodies here begun to decay from neglect, but there, we were al powerful. We could form the world to our image, where everything we wanted was granted to us.

“So we kept going. Soon, we began to live almost entirely in that other world, neglecting this one completely. We did it more and more, until, unexpectedly, we stumbled upon a little secret.

“You see, the relics that gave us access to the world could also be used to bring things
back
from there. We started with smal things, at first, like gold coins and extravagant clothes. But there was more that both of us yearned. Something that was missing in real life. You see, in this secondary world, we could be whatever we wanted to, but in the real world – wel , reality was not so kind.

“That was when I got a bril iant idea. What if we could experience everything that we were in that world, here? In
reality
? How would we go about doing so? The answer, of course, became quite clear to me: to have everything each of us ever desired, we would have to
become
the most desirable, the most beautiful men on earth.” Laura frowned. How could he think things to be so simple? “Yes, that was the key to it al . Therein lay the power of seduction. We could break free of the restrains of using the relics, and live in reality… yet take the best parts of the secondary world with us.

“And so we went in again, intent on changing our appearance. Careful y, we molded each other’s skin, modified the facial features in line with the most beautiful sculptures and paintings ever made. We perfected our bodies, our faces, there – as an artist would paint man with brush strokes, we too painted ourselves in image of becoming God-like.

Borrak’s eyes grew dark, and his tone became heavy. “What we did not know, however, was that the entire time, we were being watched. By other beings – those who travel to that world frequently. Beings we did not even know exist. We were young, careless, and stupid.

“The trip back from that world was painful, as it always was, but because of the changes we had made to ourselves, it was even worse. For weeks after returning, my brother and I were sick in our beds. We lay in comatose while nightmares haunted our dreams. I remember them to this day. They were much worse, much more macabre than anything you fear might happen to you. These were nightmares that scarred the mind, and turned you forever into another person. Nightmares that gave no respite, and offered no escape. Nightmares that poison the mind.

“But then we awoke. And with great delight, we saw that we were successful. When we returned from that world, we found our appearance completely changed – completely shifted, if you wil – to exactly what we made ourselves to be in the secondary world. My brother and I… we became the most perfect humans to have ever walked the earth.

“However, when we awoke, we discovered a rather unpleasant surprise. The relics were missing. We were told a visitor came, one who no one recognized, and took away the relics. But we had no use of them anymore – we had got what we needed. We got what we wanted. We were both young, we were both desirable, and we were rich with the gift of youth and beauty.

“We took advantage. Oh yes, at every chance we got, we took advantage. Every woman we saw fel straight into our laps. Two, three, four at a time. It was wondrous.

“And it continued that way for years. Age did have an effect on us, but not at the same speed as on anybody else. It… slowed down, for whatever reason. Ten years flew by, and it was like only ten months had passed. There was no difference in our appearance. Twenty years passed. Thirty. Forty. And stil , we did not change. It was fifty years to the day of our return that we got
the visit
.”

Laura frowned again. The way he said that, he made it entirely ominous.

“Yes. For you see, we were not alone for those fifty years. We were being watched, by the ones we now serve. They kept close tabs on us, and saw everything we ever did. And final y, after fifty years of al owing us to run free, they came to reveal themselves as the holders of the secondary world. Of the other domain.”

“And then what?” Laura asked. Despite everything, the story had her captivated. She had forgotten al about the points butting into her spine, about the cold air against her flesh, about her existence as a prisoner. This was important, and if she listened, she would know something about the elders that she doubted many others did.

“And then,” Borrak said slowly, “it was time to pay our price.” He smiled, and drew a hand grandly over his face. “These other
beings
, they cal ed themselves the elders. They said we had entered their world without permission, and had used its power for our own glories. They came to remind us that nothing ever comes for free.”

“So… they did this? To you? How?”

“A curse,” Borrak spat. “One they put on my brother and me both. The only way to pay our debt was to swear eternal servitude to the elders. They could not forgive us for being more magnificent than them, no, not for mere
men
.” He spat the word. “
Men
were always supposed to be inferior. No matter what. To have taken the gifts offered by this secondary world for ourselves, to make ourselves
more
than them… it was a gift with an impossible price.

“And now what are we? Mere
hounds
for the elders. We are the ones they cal when little things go awry.” He smiled at her disgustingly. “And, as you can tel , we get the job done wel .”

Laura was jerked back to the present moment with that crude reminder. She was bound, and stil had no way out.

“So who was I?” Borrak continued. “I was but a man. A regular human man, too proud to see that he was dabbling with supernatural forces far beyond his control.”

Suddenly Laura noticed something she hadn’t seen before. Hanging down the neck of Borrak’s shirt was a smal golden chain. It hung heavy, like it was being weight down by something. And as he moved to turn away, Laura caught just the slightest glimpse of what it was. A thick, circular pendant. And from its face came a dul , iridescent glow. The glow of a
torrial
. Laura knew immediately that the pendant had been key to capture her and the others.

“Wait!” she exclaimed just at Borrak was about the exit the tent. “You didn’t tel me – what did you do to me?”

“To you?” he turned, seemingly in confusion. Then, after examining her body, he laughed. “Oh.
That
. Wel , you see, we found that some of the
Vassiz
are easier to contained when they become sapped of their… vampiric… powers. Powers that they have no right to use without the permission of the elders. Which reminds me…” He walked back to the table where he had lay down the rag, and pul ed a smal jar out of his pocket. He pul ed the stopper at the top off, and careful y placed two drops on either side of the rag. Then he came back to Laura, holding it up for her. She squirmed away, but he gripped her head in one hand while use the other to stuff the rag back in her mouth.

“It’s a herb, mostly,” he explained, “mixed with some common spices. Al very easy to obtain, you see, but not many know if its effects. It weakens the vampire inside of you. And, as long as we keep administering it… wel , you remain under our control.” He managed to final y stuff the rag inside her mouth, and tied it off.

“You better rest up,” he said, just before he exited the tent. “We have a long night of excitement up ahead.”

As soon as the flap fluttered shut behind him, Laura exhaled the breath she was holding. So it was the rag in her mouth that was doing it! No wonder she couldn’t see nearly as wel as before, or break free. Her vampire sense was
dulled
!

How long would the effects last? She didn’t know. And Borrak had just administered a new dose of the herbs to her, which meant… she felt herself growing sleepy. Shaking her head, she strained to keep thinking. It meant that the effects would be strengthened… again, she lost her train of thought. What was it she was thinking about? She wasn’t sure anymore. She felt drowsy. Her eyes drifted shut, then snapped wide open. The rag. Something about the rag. But already, she was drifting in and out. A blackness threatened to engulf her again, and she was powerless to stop it. Sleep came.

~A Ceremony~

Laura felt a gust of wind across her body. Her eyes were stil closed, and she opened them slowly. She was unsure where she was. Why did her body feel so
stiff
? She tried to move her arms, but found them trapped behind her. What the…? Then her eyes ful y opened, and she remembered exactly where she was.

She was bound in a tent, a prisoner of Borrak and Serkhol. And the gust of wind she had just felt across her body? That was both of them lifting the tent flap to come in. Abruptly, she realized what that meant, and her heart started pounding. Her lungs cal ed for air, but that filthy rag in her mouth prevented her from supplying it. Al she could do was flare her nostrils to try to gulp down what little she could.

Borrak and Serkhol were not paying her any attention. At least, not right away. Neither of them so much as glanced at her as they walked over to the side table where her clothes lay. Laura watched, feeling absolutely terrified but stubbornly determined not to show it, as Borrak lifted his arms high in the air, and Serkhol reached into his pockets to take out a stack of long, narrow candles.
Candles?
Why would they need
candles
?

When Serkhol had the candles in his grip, he rose his arms much the same way his brother had. And Borrak, in turn, reached into Serkhol’s coat pocket to extract a second bunch of candles. These ones were much shorter, and much, much thicker.

Laura watched as they turned to each other, and calmly bowed their heads. The movements were al very precise, as if they had been coordinated ahead of time. Or practiced, even. Laura felt like she was about to sick up. This was the start of some type of ceremony, she knew it, and
she
was going to be the centerpiece.

The two
men
– that was what they were, once before, mere humans – straightened, and extended their arms to place them on each other’s shoulders. Then they started humming. It was a dark, rhythmic noise that escaped from their throats. Like the beating of a war drum, it penetrated deep into Laura’s mind and soul. Each was humming the same thing, until their voices combined into one. It had a steady rhythm, and a dark, deep bass. The humming grew louder and louder, until the noise became something of a chant. Neither Serkhol’s nor Borrak’s eyes deviated once from the other’s face until the chanting reached a dramatic, foreboding climax. And then it was abruptly cut off. A silence stretched across the room. Everything was quiet except for Laura’s labored breathing. She could feel the sharpness of the points sticking into her back, feel the cold air pressing against her skin. And in the smal tent, her sense of hopelessness grew. Laura felt total y trapped – and she was. The air was stifling, and the filthy rag in her mouth with the concoction soaked into it burned her throat. But despite al that, she was proud that her face betrayed none of her fear. Robbing the brothers of the pleasure of knowing her fright would be one last smal victory for her.

Serkhol and Borrak stil stood apart from one another, and stil were looking intensely in each other’s eyes. Then, very slowly, Serkhol lifted his hands from his brother’s shoulders, and Borrak did the same. They moved as one to face the table, stepping beside each other so each had a perfect division of it. Laura’s clothes were brushed aside, and fel to the dirt floor.

Laura watched as Serkhol placed his eight candles on the table in a large, circular pattern. She was amazed they did not fal , as there was no support she could see for them. Then Serkhol stepped aside, and Borrak placed his candles in the spaces between Serkhol’s, but drew them closer together in a much tighter circle. Then he stepped to the side, too, and both brothers looked at the arrangement. They stil had not so much as glanced at her. The whole thing, whatever it was, had a very practiced, very rehearsed feel. And it frightened Laura.

Suddenly, with a brief flick of the wrist, Borrak was holding a smal flame. She could not say
where
the flame came from – it was just
there
, in his hand. He extended that hand out, and moved it along every single one of his brother’s candles, cupping the top just for a second to light the wick. When he was done, Serkhol did the same motion with his hand, and another flame appeared there. He brought his hand over each of his brother’s candles, lighting al of them in turn. Only when they were al ful y lit did she catch him glance back at her, the hint of a smile on his lips. As soon as the first candle had been lit, a fragrance started to take up the air of the room. It had been weak, at first, but now with al the flames burning, Laura could smel it in its ful intensity. It was sharp, the way a drop of pure lemon juice might be, but at the same time a little bit
soothing
. Despite everything, Laura felt herself relax. It started with her shoulders, which drooped slightly down to ease the tension she felt. Next were her limbs, which felt smoothed over as the tightness in them disappeared. Even the sharp pricking in the smal of her back seemed to become more distant. Final y her mind, which had been swirling with hundreds of anxious thoughts, ful y relaxed.

Laura looked to Serkhol and Borrak, and realized both of them were watching her expectantly. They knew exactly what the fumes from the candles would do to her –
had
done to her. She tried to muster up the strength to resist the effects, to force her body back into that stiff, uncomfortable posture… but just couldn’t do it. It was like trying to scoop water up with a sieve. No matter how hard you tried, it just wouldn’t work.

“You see, girl,” Borrak said softly, “we do our best to take care of you. Al we ask in return is that you take care of
us
.”

Laura’s eyes bulged, but she was powerless to do anything else. Borrak chuckled lightly, and turned his attention to his brother.

Serkhol had started to unbutton the shirt he had on. Slowly, button by button, Laura watched as his neckline dropped lower and lower. And the fumes from the candles were making their effects even more pronounced. Laura felt like she was in a complete daze. The body she inhabited was not her own anymore. Her mind was distant, removed from al the tactile senses of her body. Slowly, Serkhol’s shirt came al the way undone. And Laura saw a pendant, identical to the one she had seen on his brother. The pendant was completely unobstructed now. For the first time, she had a clear view of it, and seeing it like this, she became
certain
it was a
torrial
. An elaborate carving of symbols too smal to be made out was etched on the front of it. Some of those lines glowed in the same way the symbols of the vault door had glowed. And when Laura blinked, she found that an entirely
different
set of lines was glowing. In fact, the whole face of the pendant was pulsing, in a way, with that blue-ish green fluorescent light that she had come to recognize as a sign of
torrial
.

Laura hadn’t even noticed that Borrak’s shirt had also come al the way undone. And the pendant that he had on pulsed in much the same way as his brother’s. In fact, there seemed to be a connection in the way the faint light came on and off. Then Laura saw it. Yes! The lines on one pendant glowed in turn with the lines on the other – that is, when the first was glowing, the second was not, and vice versa. And if the fact that the two pendants looked completely identical wasn’t enough to tip her off, seeing them pulse together in turn like that did. The two were definitely connected, somehow, in some way. Al Laura had to do was figure out
how
. And
why
.

Laura realized with a start that while focusing on the pendants, she had overlooked a particularly uncomfortable, disgusting feature of both men. With their shirts ful y undone, she could see, for the first time, the complexion of their skin. And it sickened her.

It was splotchy, alternating between yel owing spots and dark spots indiscriminately much like their faces. But that was not the worst of it. Al over, there seemed to be different types of deformities. If the top half of an arm was covered in hives, the bottom was struck by a vicious looking rash. If thick, red boils were infected on the left side of a stomach, the disfigured warts that mixed together with patchy bits of hair were right beside it on the right. On neither of the men did there seem to be a single clean sport of regular, recognizable skin. And it was repulsing.

Again, Serkhol bowed his head towards his brother, this time leaving his arms pressed to his sides. And Borrak reached towards him very careful y, very
gingerly,
to take hold of the chain holding the pendant. Slowly, he lifted it up, over Serkhol’s head, to take it off. As soon as it was off, Laura saw that the pulsing glow started to fade. Borrak extended his arms over the table, and very careful y let the pendant drop, right in the middle of the candle arrangement. As soon as it touched the wood, the light winked out completely. Borrak jerked in a smal but awkward convulsion, and nearly knocked over the entire table. Laura winced. Less than a second later, though, he was back up straight again, looking as if nothing had happened. His brother did not so much as acknowledge it.

Borrak bowed towards his brother the same way, and Serkhol reached out to take the pendant off his neck. The same thing happened when the second pendant was placed on the table – that is, the light that had shone in the delicate lines faded completely.

It was only once both pendants were on the table, placed precisely in the middle of the candle arrangement, did the two brothers look at Laura.

And she saw hunger in their eyes.

They walked towards her casual y, and Laura knew the ceremony was over. Whatever it had been, whatever it had done, it was over with. Their movement ceased to feel so scripted now. They were moving normal y.

“I’m sure,” Borrak began quietly, “that you are wondering what that was al about.”

“She looks the type to have a curious mind,” Serkhol offered.

“Yesss, brother,” Borrak crooned. “That she does.” The two of them started circling around her like snakes.

“Which means you’re in luck, child,” Serkhol said. “For we found it is best for our
guests
to not have any lingering thoughts when we start the fun. They… take away from our enjoyment of events.”

“And we wouldn’t want anything less from you, would we?” Borrak asked. “We want you to be ful y present with us when we take care of you tonight.”

“Which begins with your mind,” Serkhol explained. “So. We’l answer the most basic question first. The medal ion.”

“You see,” Borrak said, his face coming mere inches away from her ear, “it is something we don’t expect you to understand. But the least we could do is give you the courtesy of al owing to try.”

“The medal ions,” Serkhol hissed into her other ear, “keep track of what we do. They are the elders’

way of keeping tabs on us.”

“Of course,” Borrak sneered, “they grant us other powers, too. One such is what we used to
capture
you so easily.”

“Yes,” Serkhol said. “But the thing is, like the good hounds that we are, we are given certain
privileges
that others might not, if they ever found themselves in our position. For example… we are al owed certain
private
moments with them off.” Laura felt his tongue trace the outside of her ear, and was helpless to stop it. “And that’s where you come in.”

Laura was breathing hard. The air in the room was completely stifling. As soon as the pendants, or medal ions, or
torrial
, or whatever they were, had been placed in the middle of the arrangement on the table, the smoke from the candles intensified. Where it had been thin and light before, it had now become thick and viscous. And it had darkened, too, in a strange burn that stung the inside of her nose with every breath.

“Of course,” Borrak intervened, “it is not so easy to just
remove
them. The medal ions… wel , you remember that story I told you earlier? These medal ions were the very same
devices
that my brother and I found to enter that other world.”

“A cruel fate, don’t you think?” Serkhol asked, “To be bound as slaves by the same item that gave you such freedom once?”

“It is the price we pay,” Borrak whispered. “And we cannot removed them ourselves. Somebody else needs to do it, always. And yet, there’s a catch. For if one of us does it without the other, we both die.”

“We have become tied in more ways than one,” Serkhol added, “so that we cannot go for more than even a few hours without the medal ions on.”

“A cruel fate,” Borrak said. “But trust me, my darling, we intend to take advantage of
every
minute
we
get
.”